You have no idea how much Betty Lou and I appreciated having the HOG team help with the airlift on Saturday. There have been quite a few people tell me how much it meant to the athletes and their coaches. I heard one athlete ask one of the riders if he was riding a Harley-Davidson. The rider stated that he was and the athlete asked if he could touch it. What a smile he had on his face when he touched the bike.
There were a couple of the Lincoln Drywall people that rode their bikes over to the Harper, Schramm, Smith Hall and had them parked near the offloading location. One of the athletes asked if he could go see the bike. Lynn put the youngster on the bike and they took pictures of him. That is one kid that will probably not remember much of the contests, but mainly he will take the memory of sitting on that Harley home with him. Probably better than any of the medals his team wins.
I heard that over at the Cessna Airlift location that some of the athletes got to sit on some of the bikes and it made their day also. You folks are so generous with your chrome and leather, it is just plain wonderful. Pete, the coordinator for the buses was so thankful for all of you. You were careful and very considerate of all the athletes and the bus drivers. Some of you helped block traffic so that the athletes would not get run over while getting their luggage from the bus and others helped with their luggage.
I was told by several of the coordinators of this airlift that this was the best organized airlift and that the bikes were like frosting on the cake. This is the first time in the history of the Special Olympics that there was a motorcycle escort for all the buses and I truly believe that you set a precedent for future events. My thanks to you for being courteous and careful escorts.
We had close to 40 bikes that were part of this event and probably averaged 125 miles each. That is 4,375 miles towards our goal of 2 million, but that is not what was so important. It was the fact that you 45 people gave a day of your time and money to someone you did not know and you touched lives that you will never be aware of. You are the Spirit of HOG and I know that all of us should be proud to be a member of this community.
Don't forget about the appreciation dinner for the volunteers to be had at the Frontier H-D HOG pen on Saturday night, July 31, at 5:30 pm for socializing with dinner being served at 6:00.
Keep it between the ditches, rubber side down my friends,
Kojak and Betty Lou